Japan AUM hits US$1.95 trillion as of end of 2013

Japan’s asset management industry had raised 198.95 trillion yen (US$1.95 trillion) from pension funds and other investors as of the end of 2013, reaching its highest ever recorded amount, data showed.

According to figures published by the Japan Investment Advisers Association (JIAA), nearly 100 trillion yen was pooled into mutual funds by local pension funds.

Following the recovery in Japan’s stock market, whose Nikkei 225 index rose by more than 53% during 2013 according to Bloomberg data, fund managers who had previously struggled to raise funds in the wake of the 2008 Lehman Brothers crisis have seen increased allocations from institutional investors.

Allocations from public pension funds had begun to decline since March 2010, when they hit a low of 69 trillion yen, only to recover to 77 trillion yen by the end of December last year.

In addition, institutional investment into wrap accounts remained historically high, reaching 1.22 trillion yen as of the end of 2012.